The Phantom Secret
by WordStained
Summary: What if Vlad wasn't the only halfa Valerie learned about in the episode D-Stabilized? Episode re-write in Valerie's P.O.V. I own nothing. Full disclaimer inside. Rated K.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: What if Vlad wasn't the only halfa Valerie learned about in D-Stabilized? Episode re-write from her P.O.V.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of it's characters. They all belong to Butch Hartman. I'm not making money for this, it's solely for entertainment. This is entirely based off the season three episode, D-Stabilized. The dialogue and actions are taken directly from that for the entire story, but I own nothing. I am using my legally purchased iTunes copy of the episode to get all of it. Only a few parts (i.e. things that aren't seen in the episode that I'm making up, Val's thoughts) are my own.

A/N: I just watched the episode and felt compelled to write this, sort of as an explanation kind of think. Tell me what you think, Stained.

* * *

The Phantom Secret

I was sitting at home, staring blankly at the homework assignment in front of me when a buzzing sound alerted me. It was Mr. Masters. Without missing a beat, I allowed my new ghost hunting suit to cover me and flew at top speed towards his mansion. I was there in record time, something he seemed to be quite impressed with.

"Well, that certainly was fast," he commented upon my arrival. "My, don't you look fancy."

"I got a few upgrades," I told him, showing off one of my many new weapons.

"Well, perhaps you'd be willing to upgrade your life as well. Wouldn't you like to finally move out of that rundown apartment?" I can't deny, that sounded pretty good to me. I let my hover board disappear from beneath me, landing gracefully in a crouch.

"Hmm. What do you need, Mr. Masters?" I was willing to do anything to get out of that place.

"A little bounty hunting," he said simply, a small smile on his lips. I punched one of my fists, a smile of my own spreading quickly.

"Hunting down ghost scum is what I'm all about," I told him, placing my hands on my hips. "The target?"

"Dani Phantom," he said, pressing a button on his keyboard. I couldn't hide my surprise.

"Danny Phantom?" Anger welled up inside of me. "That guy's been an intangible pain in my butt for a long time." He smiled again.

"Oh, no. Sorry, my dear. Not _Danny _Phantom; _Dani_ Phantom, with an _I_. The girl ghost." He turned his computer monitor around to show me a video of a young girl. She had white hair and green eyes, like Danny Phantom, but was much younger... and a girl. She was dressed different too, her outfit cut off at the stomach and the black and white fabric in vertical patterns.

"You're kidding," I said in disbelief. "There's a _girl _called Dani Phantom? Ha! These ghosts gotta come up with more original names."

"Yes, well, this Dani Phantom is an incredibly evil, dangerous ghost who's out to destroy me!" he informed me, a little worry coloring his face.

I was trying, and failing, to understand this. "What's she got against you?" Before answering, Mr. Masters turned his chair away from me.

"Word must be out that I am hunting down ghosts," he said. "When she brings me down, who knows what kind of terror she'll unleash on our fair city." Once again, anger coursed through me. I couldn't let that happen. I had to protect Mr. Master and Amity Park from this _Dani _Phantom!

"There is no way I'm letting that ghost girl get you, Mr. Masters," I growled, my hands balling up into fists. "She's as good as caught!" I typed in tracking information into the cuff of my suit. It told me she was somewhere in Elmerton, just across the river from Amity Park.

"I knew I could count on you, Valerie," Mr. Masters told me as he spun his chair back around.

I jumped up, letting my hover board return, and said, "And I'm glad I can count on that new apartment." With that, I flew out, leaving Mr. Masters and his ugly, white cat alone once more.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Chapter 2! I posted another DP story I've been working on, The Humanity of a Ghost Boy (title subject to change), and just posted chap. 2 on that, so that should be up within the hour. So yeah. Hope you like the chapter. Later, Stained.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of it's characters. They all belong to Butch Hartman. I'm not making money for this, it's solely for entertainment. This is entirely based off the season three episode, D-Stabilized. The dialogue and actions are taken directly from that for the entire story, but I own nothing. I am using my legally purchased iTunes copy of the episode to get all of it. Only a few parts (i.e. things that aren't seen in the episode that I'm making up, Val's thoughts) are my own.

* * *

Chapter 2

I was in Elmerton in just a few minutes. I flew past my apartment. "Daddy," I said to myself. "When I catch this ghost girl, I_ promise_ to finally move us out of this crummy place."

My coordinates took me to a small back street. "Gotcha." The only people in sight were a fruit vendor and a little girl. She had black hair and a red cap covered her black hair, a ponytail sticking out in the back. "What's going on?" I asked my tracker in frustration. "The coordinates brought me _right here_. But that fruit guy's not a ghost. And neither is that kid!" I started typing again, trying to sort this out. "What is up with this thing?"

A moment later, the fruit guy ran away screaming and I looked down. I watched the little girl run down the alley and pull out two apples. She bit into one happily and I couldn't suppress a smile of my own.

"Man, she's good," I admitted. "I didn't even see her pocket those." I looked at her and realized she must have been pretty desperate. "Poor kid. I know where she's coming from." My shoulder alarms went off and she looked up, shocked. The apples fell from her hands as she looked around.

"Huh? That ghost _must _be around here. Don't worry kid," I called. "I'm not gonna let some ghost freak get'cha." I raced down the alley as she took off running. "Hold on!" When I reached the ground, the allowed my board to disappear once more.

The girl pushed her way into an abandoned building. I followed her in. "Listen, kid. I know you're in here. And I know something evil is hunting you," I said, turning on the light on my helmet. I searched around for her, moving deeper into the building. "But I can protect you if you'll just _trust _me and come out." Then, I stepped on a loose board.

Next thing I knew, the ceiling was falling around me. "Whoa!" I heard as the girl came out from under a table. She ran forward. Then, right before my eyes, she changed in a flash of blinding white light. She flew toward me and wrapped me as if in a hug. The ceiling went right through us. She pushed me toward the wall, but we went through that too.

I was dazed as we tumbled onto the pavement outside the building. I drew back in shock, a gasp escaping my lips as I caught sight of her. "Huh?" She looked up at me, exhausted. "You're... you're a girl_ and _a ghost?" She smiled weakly.

"And, you're welcome."

"The ghost girl!" I exclaimed, rising to my feet. She stood too, proud of herself.

"Yeah, but you can just call me Dani." She extended a hand, as if to greet me.

"Oh, I will," I assured her, pulling my ghost cuffs out of my belt. She was surprised as they trapped her wrists and ankles. "Dani Phantom." I took her to a nearby warehouse.

She struggled against the unbreakable restraints. "Let me go!" she begged.

"Not on your afterlife, ghost girl." She began to sweat as she pulled again.

"That's what I'm afraid of," she muttered. She looked tired, worn. But that didn't matter. "What are you going to do with me?"

"Me? I'm not doing anything with you. I've got you all bundled up for delivery to Vlad Masters," I told her, flipping my phone open.

"You're working for _Vlad_? He'll destroy me!" I laughed.

"That's a good one. He told me the only reason you came out of the Ghost Zone was to destroy _him_." Her eyes widened and she sat up.

"What?" She sounded genuinely surprised, but I didn't believe it. "No! He's lying!" This just irritated me.

"Vlad Masters is a good man. He has never lied to me."

"Are you crazy?" she asked. "Look at me." Her face was covered in a sheen of sweat. "Do I look like I can destroy anything?" I turned away. "Vlad is evil," she continued. "And even though I knew he was hunting me, I chanced coming here because I'm dissolving into nothing! Only one person can help me: Danny Phantom."

This gave me a great idea. I closed my phone and turned back to her, an excited face replacing my one of indifference. "You know the ghost boy?"

"Yes," she said, buying into it. "Do you?"

"Of course! Everyone in Amity Park knows of the amazing ghost hero, Danny Phantom. But, I've never had the honor of meeting him."

"I'll introduce you!" she exclaimed, now on her hands and knees. I had her hook, line, and sinker. "Just set me free so I can see him."

"Oh, I'll let you see him," I promised. The last bit was to myself. "For the last time."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I let the ghost girl lead the way. She flew to Amity Park, of course, and it seemed she knew exactly where to go. When she told me we were getting close, I stayed high above as she went down a bit. Better Phantom didn't see me; he would know something was up. Down below, I saw two people... Tucker and Sam, on motor scooters. They stopped when they passed her, shocked.

Then, she was flying towards Danny. He seemed distracted, not even noticing her. They met in a head-on collision, falling and landing on the nearest roof top. "Danny!" I heard the girl say as he got up.

Danny held something up to his ear and said, "I've got this one guys." I wasn't sure who he was talking to, and I didn't really care. I was waiting for the perfect time to strike. "Danielle?" He helped her to her feet. "Are you okay?" I could see green goop on their hands, but I didn't know what it was. "You look awful. What happened to you? Last time I saw you, you flew off kinda dramatically."

"You know how hard it is to fly off dramatically?" she asked, absorbing the green goo back into herself. I was kind of disgusted as I realized it was some sort of ectoplasm. "That plus our last battle with Vlad left me really wiped out. As much as I've tried to save my strength since then, I keep getting weaker." _Good_, I thought. I had no sympathy for her. She was evil, plain and simple. "I needed your help to see if you could make me stay whole. But as soon as I got into town, Vlad came after me."

A look of determination crossed Danny's face as he knelled down in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "He's not gonna touch you, Dani," he promised. "Come on, I'll protect you." He grabbed her and they took to the air once more. Now was my chance.

I shot a mechanical arm out towards them. It caught his ankle. He let go of Dani, unable to go anywhere.

"I knew you'd take the bait, Phantom," I said. He looked furious.

"Bait?" He turned back to Dani. "Was this a trap?"

"No!" she promised. "No, I would never do that! She saw me go ghost and she was gonna turn me over to Vlad until I told her I knew you."

"It's true, Danny," I assured him. "The little ecto-brat had no idea I was using _her _to get to _you_." Now, she was mad as Danny was.

"You _what_?" I smiled bragging-ly.

"And she actually believed that I wanted the _ honor _of meeting Danny Phantom! When I really just wanted the honor of destroying you." I activated the charge in the mechanical arm. He screamed in pain when he received the shock. I pulled it back and he fell to the ground with a thud. He didn't move.

"You... You tricked me!" the girl accused, pointing a finger towards me. In response, I shot her with an ectoplasmic blast. She screamed an joined her 'cousin' on the ground. I laughed. They were both unconscious. They were both my prisoners.

"Now that's two Danny Phantom's for the price of one."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After delivering the ghost girl to Mr. Masters, I took Phantom back to the warehouse, binding him in restraints he couldn't break or phase through. After that, I waited.

When he finally woke up, he groaned. It didn't take him long to realize he was trapped in an unfamiliar place. He looked around, desperately seeking a way out, no doubt. As expected, he pulled against the restraints to no avail before sighing in defeat.

"I finally got you where I want you," I said, stepping from the shadows. His eyes widened when he saw me, but only a little bit. "But now I want answers, Phantom."

He glared down at me and said, "You're not getting _anything_ until you tell me what you did with Dani." I was surprised. He cared more about her than his own safety. I acted like I didn't care either way.

"Oh, she's getting what's coming to her," I promised. His glare was relentless, but I ignored it. Though, it did make me kind of uncomfortable. This had to be one of his tricks! I couldn't let him think he was getting to me (which he so wasn't).

"Just tell me you didn't hand her over to Vlad," he demanded. I smiled slyly. I'm sure he knew the answer before I said it.

"Well, that would be a lie, now wouldn't it?" That didn't phase him as I'd hoped. He was trying to throw me off my game, get inside my head. Why not fight fire with fire?

"Well, you didn't seem to have any trouble lying to Dani." His face changed; his glare softened as he next spoke. "Listen, I know that we've had our issues and, clearly, you're not big on forgiveness, but Dani doesn't have anything to do with you hating me." I put my hands on my hips, a smile playing on my lips.

"I don't hate you, Danny," I told him honestly. He didn't look like he was buying it. "It's _because _of you that I'm the most powerful ghost hunter in Amity Park." I walked over to the table to my left.

"Hey!" he protested, sounding kind of offended. "What about the Fentons?" Now _that _was a good one!

"Ha! You're kidding," I laughed, glancing over my shoulder at him. "They couldn't catch a ghost if it was living under their own roof." He gave me a look like he grudgingly had to agree and muttered something that sounded like 'true.'

He looked at me with questioning eyes, eyes holding a glint of hope... or opportunity. "So, you want information." _Right in one_, I thought sarcastically. Hadn't I already explained this?

"Everything you've got." As I listed what I wanted, I counted on my fingers. "On ghost portals, the Ghost _Zone_-" He cut me off before I could finish.

"And what if I don't feel like talking?" He sure was being defiant for someone who wasn't in a position to negotiate. Did he ever just give up and do what he was told? The answer came to mind instantly. No, he didn't. He was too... what? Determined? Confidant? Proud? All of the above? Whatever it was, I guessed I would just have to beat it out of him.

"Then I'll need to find ways to persuade you." I opened a case and pulled out a sinister-looking stun gun type weapon. When I turned to face him, I could see he was beginning to panic.

"Valerie," he plead, "you don't wanna do this!" _Nice try,_ I thought as I stepped closer.

"No, _you _don't want me to do this."

He looked up a bit and muttered, "Well, yeah..." When he wasn't paying attention, I pressed the barbs of the stun gun to his side, shocking him. As before with the mechanical arm, he screamed in pain. "Stop!"

I pulled it away. He hung his head in defeat. "I'll tell you about the portals. I'll give you a map to the Ghost Zone. You can become the hero ghost hunter of Amity Park. But first, you need to let me go and we need to save Danielle!"

This all seemed to easy to me. What were his motives? So he saved the girl and just handed me the information on a silver platter? There was some side angle he was playing. "Why?" I demanded. "'Cause she's one of _your _kind? A ghost!" Without letting him answer, I raised the stun gun once more, pressing it hard to his side. His pain-filled shriek filled the room once more.

"No!" he protested when I pulled back. "Because she's one of yours! A human!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

My eyes were wide. I'd seen it earlier, a little girl turning into an evil ghost, but I thought it was one of her tricks. Was Phantom telling the truth? Could I trust him if he was? "She's not just a ghost," he told me with a gentle voice. "She's also a girl." I didn't want to believe him.

"But Vlad said the ghost part of her was out to get him _and _Amity Park." He looked annoyed, like he was trying to explain this to a child. Or a brick wall.

"Valerie, you saw her! Did Dani really look like she could destroy _anything_?" That made me freeze in my tracks, thinking back to when I caught her earlier. I was sure they hadn't had time to talk, so I knew she didn't tell him that.

"Funny... she asked the same thing." Could it be true?

"Look," he sighed, "the facts are Danielle's ghost half is unstable. Vlad is out to _destroy_ her. And if he destroys the ghost half, the human half is destroyed along with it." I couldn't think. None of this was anything I'd ever dealt with before.

"No. That's not my problem!" I protested. "She's a ghost. And I destroy ghosts!"

"Fine!" he bellowed, finally losing his cool. "Destroy ghosts! But can you really take part in destroying a _human_?" I didn't know what to do. I couldn't think straight.

He had a point. If I led a human die because of my actions, I don't think I could live with myself. My choice became clear. I had to let Phantom go. And I had to help him save the girl.

~OoO~

The first thing he did was take me to Fenton Works. I was confused. After making sure the room was clear, I pulled my hand from his and helped him look for... whatever it is he was looking for.

"What makes you think the _Fentons _would have anything to help Dani?" I asked. "They are ghost _hunters,_" and I used that term lightly, "not ghost _helpers_."

He smiled just a bit as he walked over to a counter full of gadgets and science equipment while he spoke. "Yes... and no. My da... Uh, Jack Fenton tends to be a little of both." He smiled again and reached for a little vial with a spray nozzle. It was full of green liquid and said 'Ecto-Dejecto' on one side. "For the sake of _all _ghosts, I keep my eye on these guys and have a pretty good idea of what they're up to."

I walked over to him again. "Don't you think it's a little dangerous flying into the lab of a family of ghost hunters?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me. My eyes traveled to a large glass tank full of giant, green ghosts. At the top, I saw a squirming Jack Fenton struggling to get out.

"Something tells me we'll be okay." He grabbed my arm once more and flew be back outside. "Hang on a sec," he said before flying back in. A moment later he returned. "Ready?"

I smiled despite myself. "I was born ready." With that, I called back my hover board and we took to the sky.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

As soon as we phased into Mr. Masters's palace, a cry for help reached our ears. "Danny! Heeeelp!"

"Dani?" Phantom called. I pointed to a door at the other end of the room.

"It came from in there." I was sure it did. Before we could investigate, however, another ghost phased through the floor. He laughed and flourished his cape. _Show off_, I thought. Danny stepped forward.

"I don't want to fight you, Vlad. I just want to save Danielle." That didn't really sound like the best thing to _tell _Plasmius, but I guessed Danny knew what he was doing.

"Sorry," Plasmius said with a smirk. "Not on my watch." With that, he fired an ectoplasmic blast from his palm. It hit Danny square in the chest, sending him flying back. _Or maybe he had no idea what he was doing_. He crashed into a book case which toppled over on top of him. I sprung into action, letting my hover board return once more. Vlad turned intangible as I charged at him.

"Feeling super in our souped up suit, are we?" He turned, firing his ghost ray at me. I put up an energy shield, defecting the blast.

"Actually, yeah!" I fired small pins at him. All of them hit, pinning him to the wall. He struggled for a second, but couldn't pull himself free. I smiled. _Check and mate_.

"Not bad," he admitted, "but do you really think you can trap me, girl?" I smiled cockily, arching an eyebrow.

"I think I just did." Of course, he turned intangible and phased through the wall. "What the-?" I sighed in irritation. Before following, I decided to see if Phantom was okay. I recalled the hover board and landed steadily on a lavish rug, heading for the fallen book case.

What I saw confused me. Instead of his pure white hair, the head I found was covered in ruffled black hair. I couldn't see his face though. Carefully, I turned his head.

It was Danny... er, Danny Fenton. How? Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom? Fenton... Phantom.. Duh. I felt so dumb. How did I not see it? How did anyone not see it? (Talk about hiding in plain sight).

Maybe we didn't see it because Fenton was a geeky, shy, weakling and Phantom was a ghost. His words from before echoed in my mind. _Fine! Destroy ghosts! But can you really take part in destroying a _human? Suddenly, I felt sick to my stomach. How many times had I tried to destroy him?

Then I remembered Dani and Vlad Plasmius. I would have to worry about Danny being Phantom later. Now, I had much bigger fish to fry.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: So, I finally got another chapter written last night. After this, there's only gonna be two more. So, yeah. Tell me what you think. Later, Stained.

* * *

Chapter 7

I blasted a hole in the floor rather than using the stairs. But it was too late. She was strapped to a board. The bonds on her ankles and wrists were encasing her in a blue glow. She was... melting! "No!" I shouted. She screamed in terror or pain... or both, struggling to pull free.

"Danny!" she screamed again and Danny, as if he'd heard, phased through the floor.

"Valerie!" he called. He flew next to me, irritation clear as crystal on his face. For a second, I saw black hair, blue eyes, and a laid-back smile. "Why are you standing around?"

There was a thudding from behind us. "Help!" someone cried from behind a closed door. "That horrible ghost trapped me and is going to destroy the girl!"

"Vlad?" I exclaimed.

"Hel-_lo_!" Danny said. "Vlad's right in front of you!" He motioned to Plasmius.

"Not him!" I argued. Now that I thought about it, I could see some pretty obvious similarities between Phantom and Fenton. Like how oblivious he can be. "Vlad _Masters_! This is his mansion."

I took off to rescue Mr. Masters. When I opened the door, sure enough, it was Masters who stumbled out. I caught him before he could fall. "As the sweet, caring, good-natured man that I am, I _beg_ you; don't let him do it!"

"Ha!" I gloated to Danny. "Told you he was a good dude!"

"Help!" Dani screamed again, drawing our attention back to her. Danny sped over to her.

"What are you doing to her?" I demanded of Plasius. I fired an ecto-plasmic blast. "Stop it, now!" He was blasted into the wall.

Danny pulled at the restraints binding Dani, but pulled back with a groan after receiving an electric shock. More determined than before, he started firing his ghost ray at them. But they just bounced off.

Plasmius stood up and said, "It's going to take more than your little plasma ray to cut those ties, Daniel." I flew over to him and fired another shot. It knocked him right through the wall.

At this point, Danielle was turning into green goo. "I can't break them, Danielle," Danny admitted. "There's only one thing left to try." He pulled out the Ecto-Dejecto. "Feeling brave?"

"A little weak in the knees, actually. But I don't even _have _knees anymore!"

"Well then, let's hope my dad didn't mend this Achilles's heel." I don't think I was supposed to have heard that, and I think he wasn't paying me much thought. Regardless, I pretended not to be listening as he sprayed the Ecto-Dejecto on the Danielle.

"I... think it's too late," she said, almost completely liquid. "Bye, Danny. Thanks for..." And that was it.

"Oh, no!" Danny exclaimed as she completely melted into a bucket of her ectoplasm. "No!" He knelt to the ground. "No. Dani..." He crumpled, burying his face in a white-gloved hand. "I... I failed you," he said, grief-stricken. I felt a lump rise in my throat. He whispered something I couldn't hear.

Then Dani's head rose from the goo! "Danny? What's the trouble?" His eyes snapped open and he smiled when he saw her."Hey!" She laughed and leaped from the bucket. As she somersaulted, the rest of her body formed once more. She was whole when she touched down... er, floated an inch off the floor. "Ha! I'm me again!"

Danny stood and joined her. "I knew you wouldn't let me down," she told him as she jumped up and hugged him around the neck. He hugged her back.

Then Plasmius came after me once more. "A little help here?" I begged as I flew away from him.

"With pleasure!" Dani said. She flew up and punched him into the ceiling. Dust and bits of tile rained down on us. She grabbed his cape and flipped him over her head. He slammed into the pillars in the room, breaking every one. When he crumbled to the floor, Dani said, "I never got to thank you for the the _homecoming_!" She launched plasma orbs that flattened into razer sharp crescents. None of them hit home.

"Ha! You missed me!" Before he could react, she flew down and punched him in the face. Once more, he crashed into the wall. He was unconscious.

Dani touched down and said, "Guess that will teach him to pick on a defenseless girl." Danny and I walked over to her.

"There's no such thing," I told her. Danny turned to me.

"Get Danielle out of here, Valerie. I'll be right behind you." Together, Dani and I flew out. After a moment or silence, a mischievous smiled lit Dani's face.

"Wanna pull a prank on Danny?" I smiled as she told me.

"Do it!"

Danny came out a couple minutes later. "Dani, that was awesome!" But she wasn't there. "Dani?" I stood there nonchalantly. Danny flew over to me. "Valerie, where's Dani?"

The ghost in question popped back into existence and shouted "Boo!" in Danny's face. He jumped back in shock. Oh, the look on his face! Dani and I burst out laughing.

"Ha ha," Danny said, putting his hands on his hips. "Very funny."

"Thank you both!" Dani told us."Vlad would have baked me into a puddle of nothing if you hadn't saved me."

Danny smiled. "That's what family's for, cos. So... now what? Heading off?"

"Yup. Now that this Phantom is fixed, she's got places to go."

"Well, just be safe, okay?"

"Awe Danny! Nothing can hurt me _now_!" I smiled as she kissed him on the cheek. "See ya! And thanks, Valerie!" With that, she flew off dramatically.

I turned my attention back to Danny, only to discover he had his arms outstretched towards me. "What's that for?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"Deal's a deal," he said. "You helped me save Dani; you can now have me back as your captive."

I almost smiled. An hour ago, I would have jumped at the chance, but now that I knew the truth, I realized something. I realized how honest Danny was. Anyone else would have pretended they never made a deal. Heck, I would have too! But Danny was keeping his word, despite the fact that he knew I would have been cruel.

I chuckled a bit and said, "Forget it." He was genuinely surprised.

"What?" Once more, I saw Danny. Human Danny. Fenton was a lot of things, but he defiantly wasn't evil.

But I didn't want him to know that I knew his secret. Not yet. "Fly away, Ghost Boy. Before I change my mind."

He smiled and backed away. "Alright! I'm going." As soon as he turned around, I fired a shot it hit him square in the butt. "Ow! What in-"

"Don't think this is gonna last! Tomorrow, it's game on!" He smiled that cocky smile.

"And I'll be ready to play," he promised. And then he was gone. I sighed, still smiling.

"I told him Vlad was a good guy." Then I remembered. "Mr. Masters! I forgot about him."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Kay, I finally got the last two chapters written. It's the first time I've been on since my last update. And it's awesome to see that there is now a proof-reader cause I'm stuck on WordPad or typing it directly on a blank doc on here, and I'm bad with mistakes. So yay! Sorry it's been a while. Writers block, you know. Sucks, but it's done now. Hope you like it. Stained

* * *

Chapter 8

As soon as I realized I'd forgotten Mr. Masters, I rushed back in. The room was in ruins. "Mayor Masters?" I called, dismounting my board. My voice echoed a bit, but got no reply. "Are you okay? Mayor Masters!" I walked further into the lab. Looking past a large machine, I noticed a shadow, followed by a voice.

"She disappeared!" it exclaimed. I had now clue what he was talking about. "Oh, we were so close. If only we'd managed to melt that little brat down!" I rushed forward behind a fallen pillar as I realized that was not Mr. Masters.

"Is that Plasmius?" I asked myself.

A hologram of... was that Danny's _mom_? shimmered into existence as he spoke again. "And who knew Valerie would be so easy to fool?" He stepped into my line of vision. I was confused. It wasn't Plasmius, it was Mayor Masters! "_Trapping _me in the closet. Oh, ingenious!" That's when he changed. Rings of black light formed around him and Plasmius floated in his place. "For a smart girl, she's very easily led." Head reeling, I jetted out of there without being spotted. As soon as I was safely away, I let out the anger inside of me.

"Vlad Masters is Vlad _Plasmius_?" I asked myself, still trying to accept it. Then again, how many Vlad's could there possibly be in Wisconsin. "Danny was right all along. And all this time, I've been doing his dirty work!" The thoughts replayed in my head. Danny had been right. Oh, I felt so stupid! Vlad had just been using me to keep his hands clean in all of it. All that time, I thought Danny, the ghost boy, was evil. But it was Vlad. Danny was good. Vlad was evil. He didn't care about me at all, he just needed someone to do his dirty work.

"Well, not anymore," I promised myself. "Watch out, Vlad, 'cause one of the ghosts I'm hunting now is you."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Last chapter! None of this comes from anywhere in the series, it's post-series.

* * *

Chapter 9

Post- Phantom Planet

Vlad was gone, lost in space. Danny had saved the world and revealed his true identity to everyone. I cheered when he changed, same as everyone else even though I already knew. It had been three weeks and I wanted to tell him that I'd known and I was sorry for everything, but I just couldn't bring myself to face him. Guilt weighed me down, but if I never made amends, I would never forgive myself.

Finally, I caught him and Sam at the Nasty Burger. Nervous, I went over to talk. "Hey, Valerie," Danny greeted with a smile. I returned the gesture, but I'm sure they knew it was off.

"Danny, I need to talk to you," I told him. They looked at me expectantly. "Alone." He glanced over at Sam, who nodded. Danny stood and headed for the door. I followed. We sat on the ledge of the window at the corner of the building.

"What's on your mind?" he asked. I bit my lip. It was too late to back out, so I took a breath and spat it out.

"I'm sorry," I said. He smiled.

"Apology accepted." A second later, he added, "What are you sorry about, exactly?"

"Everything! I'm sorry I hunted you. I'm sorry I tried to kill you. I'm sorry I hurt you fighting. And I'm sorry I worked for Vlad." I hung my head, waiting for him to say he changed his mind and would never forgive me for being so cruel to him. And I would deserve it.

"Apology accepted," he repeated. I looked up, surprised. How could he forgive me so easily? I had to know.

"How can you not hate me?" I asked. He studied my face for a moment before answering.

"A lot of people hunted me and tried to kill me." He shrugged. "My own parents wanted to do me in. It's not like you knew it was me. I can't hold that against you." I smiled a little. I would never understand how he went a whole year as a secret ghost in the home of ghost hunters without them ever putting it together.

"There's something else," I muttered. "Remember when we went to save Dani?" He nodded. "Well, you sort of passed out and... changed back." Danny sighed.

"I'd hoped you didn't see that," he admitted. "Is that why you let me go?"

"Yeah. I looked at you and saw Danny. _This _Danny. You know, it made me think of all the horrible stuff I did or tried to do to you. If I'd killed you..." I shuddered. "I wouldn't have been able to live with myself."

He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

"I wish you'd told me."

"Only Sam, Tucker, and Jazz knew. I could have told any of the people who wanted to kill me, but I didn't because... well, I would have never forgiven myself if they were attacked because of me."

"Did you really just make a superhero reference?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He laughed and said, "Yeah, I guess I did. But it's true. My powers could have put the people I cared about in danger. Everyone was better off not knowing."

"Sure you don't hate me?"

He smiled again and stood. "If I hated you, do you really think I would have gone out with you?" My face grew warm. "Later, Valerie."

"Later, Danny."

End


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